Smithfield Station and Surry Seafood Co

IF YOU GO

Smithfield Station 415 S. Church St. Smithfield, VA 23430 757-357-7700

Surry Seafood Co. 633 Marina Drive Surry, VA 23883 757-294-3700 Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday

Come for the water, stay for the food

By Stephen Faleski Staff Writer

Crossing the bridge into downtown Smithfield, motorists will see an exact replica of a working Chesapeake Baystyle lighthouse.

The exterior of this particular one has been modeled after the Hooper Strait Light in Maryland. Inside are two suite-style hotel hotel rooms with panoramic views of the Pagan River.

The structure is connected by a boardwalk to three standalone cottages, which also contain hotel rooms, and to the original Smithfield Station built in 1986 as a restaurant, hotel and marina.

The original station is modeled after old Coast Guard lifesaving stations that once proliferated along the coast of Virginia and the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and includes 15 hotel rooms, a 150-seat dining room and a 100-slip marina. According to the station’s website, its story began in 1983 when Ron and Tina Pack were on a boat cruise with friends in the upper Chesapeake Bay. During that cruise, they decided their adopted town of Smithfield was every bit as nice as the popular destination points of the upper bay communities and took it upon themselves to establish Smithfield as a historic destination. The restaurant, in particular, is “designed to provide a dining experience that takes advantage of Smithfield’s two most well known culinary commodities, Smithfield ham and fresh local seafood.”

The Packs added the lighthouse in 1994 and another structure known as The Lodge in 2007, which includes 22 rooms featuring king-size beds, fireplaces, granite counters, flat-screen TVs and bathrooms with walk-in showers. Now, the facility is run by the next generation of Packs: brothers Randy and Brian. In 2018, the Pack brothers purchased a similar restaurant, hotel and marina in nearby Surry County known as the Surry Seafood Co., which features a 100-seat dining room and bar, 54-seat outdoor deck, 45-slip marina and four hotel suites.

“While the virus remains a concern to all, people still need to get out occasionally and spread their social wings,” Randy said. “We want to be able to be that place and be able to do so safely. Outdoor dining continues to play a major role in our guests’ preferences, and our heated decks and patios have been well received.”

“The leisure travel industry has changed a good bit in the last months as well,” he added. “We are reaching out to a more regional market than previous and focusing our attention on guests within drive distance of the properties … A non-chain hotel’s biggest challenge is convincing guests that you are every bit as nice as a branded property … We have to do more work to convince them that our property has the amenities and are as nice, or nicer than, those with a nationally recognized brand.”